Oregon is known nationally for its trees and outdoor recreation, but what about the exploding whale? In November 1970, a dead sperm whale washed up on a beach near Florence on the Oregon Coast. To get ...

Fifty-five years ago, a dead sperm whale washed ashore near Florence — and what happened next became one of the most infamous moments in state history. Engineers from the Oregon Highway Division, ...

On Monday night, Florence Mayor Rob Ward, standing before a small crowd at Exploding Whale Memorial Park, flanked by two people dressed in whale costumes — one dead, the other smiling — officially ...

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand authorities were cutting holes in 300 whale carcasses on Monday, popping the dead animals "like balloons", to avoid them exploding as they decompose on Golden Bay ...

The word “meme” didn’t exist when Paul Linnman and Doug Brazil—a KATU-TV reporter and cameraman, respectively—chartered a flight from Portland to Florence one cool November day in 1970, and the notion ...

EUGENE, Ore. — Both the Eugene Emeralds and KATU’s classic news footage of the “exploding whale” got a shout-out on the latest episode of “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver. What does Oregon’s ...

The sleepy town of Florence, Oregon, became the setting for one of the most bizarre news stories in American history. An eight-ton sperm whale washed ashore, measuring a whopping forty-five feet in ...

In 1970, a 45-foot, 8-ton sperm whale washed ashore near Florence, Oregon. The Oregon State Highway Division decided to dispose of the carcass using dynamite. Florence will celebrate the 55th ...